Forgotten Hero
by MystiiriousAbnormality
Summary: As the Dragonborn fights to the death with the World Eater, he suddenly finds himself in an unfamiliar land. However, the dragon he was destined to fight was there, along with some strange faces. Not having the luxury of thinking on his new situation, the Dragonborn must confront the dragon for a third time, lest the world be destroyed in the beast's wake.
1. Interruptions

**I know I'm already writing 'Magicka and Ether Collide', another Elder Scrolls/Fairy Tail crossover fic, but I just couldn't help myself from starting this one. This story is very heavily based off of an unfinished story written by 'Leo Septem'. The story was called 'Those Who Bear the Name of Dragons' and the author has given permission to adopt the story as they are no longer writing fanfiction. I thought their story had so much potential, I just couldn't resist!**

 **The first chapter is essentially the first chapter of 'Those Who Bear the Name of Dragons' with my own little tweaks here and there. The next chapter will likely be chapters two and three from Leo Septem's story condensed into one chapter. Again, with my own tweaks. However, the author of the original story seemed to be shipping Dragonborn x Wendy. I won't be doing that (sorry), but I haven't decided on a pairing yet.**

 **I always have a pairing in mind when I start a story, but, since this is my first adopted story, I'm not really sure what pairing I want to go with. I'm somewhat leaning towards a Mira pairing, but I'm open to suggestions. As such, I'll have a poll up on my profile for a bit if you have any input for me. Otherwise, I'll probably just go with Mira. I'll put Erza in the poll, but I'm not really interested in having her be the romantic interest in this story, considering I already have an Elder Scrolls/Fairy Tail crossover with her in the pairing.**

 **Anyway, on with the show!**

 **Story Disclaimer: I don't own The Elder Scrolls or Fairy Tail. (If I owned Bethesda...never mind.)**

* * *

 **Forgotten Hero**

* * *

 **Interruptions**

"This is the end, Alduin!" Ysmir roared as he swung his sword down on the enormous, black-winged wyrm.

The sword, crafted with the death of dragons in mind, sliced through Alduin's hard scales with impossible ease, sprouting a fresh wound on the body of the firstborn of the dragons. Alduin howled in pain, his voice reverberating throughout the far-reaching corners of Sovngarde.

"Niid! Zu'u Alduin faal sahrot!" Alduin roared as he lashed out with his jaws, attempting to bite the Dovahkiin and rip him apart with his fangs.

Ysmir raised his large ebony shield and winced as he braced himself against the physical might of the dreadful dragon. Though Alduin was unable to clamp his jaw around the shield, he struck it like a warhammer stronger than that of any giant's, and Ysmir staggered backwards a few steps. Had it not been for the ethereal set of dragon armor enveloping his own, more mundane set of ebony armor, he would surely have been sent flying backwards, despite blocking. This ethereal armor, a product of his Dragon Aspect Shout, granted him the ability to take on the power and aspect of a dragon, granting him the impossible strength and durability of one of the dov, as well as greatly strengthening his own Thu'um – the Dragon Shouts.

Ysmir concentrated his essence, the very fiber of his being, into his breath. And with that breath, he spoke to the world, bidding it to change unto his will. He shouted.

"Fo Krah Diin!"

A torrent of ice and cold was made manifest, and it followed in the wake of Ysmir's shout. That concentrated blizzard raged forth and collided with Alduin, who, in his rage, retaliated with his own Shout. Raging fire screamed forth from Alduin's open jaw, and it melted away all of Ysmir's ice and cold. Ysmir managed to roll to the side in order to avoid the river of flames at the last second.

"Take this, foul worm!" Gormlaith Golden-Hilt, one of the three spirits of heroes who resided in Shor's Hall that volunteered to support Ysmir vanquish their ancient foe, screamed. She swung her sword at Alduin's eye, causing him to scream once more in pain as he was blinded by the ancient Nord heroine.

The other two heroes, Felldir the Old and Hakon One-Eye, pressed their own attack, causing Alduin to turn his attention to them. However, it was evident that the long battle had taken its toll on them. They looked weary, even though they were spirits, and were sporting fresh injuries all over their bodies. This would be the final assault, Ysmir decided.

"Heroes!" Ysmir called out. "Hold fast!"

Dropping his sword and shield, Ysmir concentrated his magicka into one of the most destructive spells he knew of. So powerful was this spell that while preparing to cast it, the magicka visibly transformed into sparks of lightning that danced all along his arms. It took him nearly five seconds to finish preparing the spell – a completely unreasonable amount of time in normal combat, but one that was possible thanks to the presence of his powerful and trustworthy allies. Thanks to them distracting Alduin, Ysmir successfully finished preparing his spell and unleashed it.

True to its name, a storm of lighting raged forth from Ysmir's hands and struck Alduin in a large, but concentrated beam of crackling energy. Elemental magic in its purest, most destructive form coursed through the World Eater's body, and though he possessed great resistance to magic, a trait shared by all of his kind, not even he could withstand this powerful assault.

A wordless shout sprang from Alduin's maw, but this time Ysmir heard something very clearly in the first dragon's voice; something that had always been present, but very well hidden until now: fear.

Alduin was going to die, and he knew it.

Sweat dripped down Ysmir's brow as the strain of maintaining the spell started to affect him. He could feel his magicka draining fast, and it would soon be impossible for him to continue casting the spell. Before then, he needed to kill Alduin.

 _Die, damn you!_ Ysmir screamed in his thoughts. _Die!_

However, Alduin proved too resilient, and when the last drop of Ysmir's magicka ran out, Alduin remained alive; but not unscathed. Alduin was visibly trembling from the numerous injuries he had suffered, both new and old. _This is my chance_ , Ysmir thought. Now was the time to strike down Alduin!

Grabbing his sword and shield, Ysmir sprinted forward. Raising Dragonbane, his sword, to bring down the deathblow on Alduin's neck.

"Zu'u unslaad!" Alduin roared. "Zu'u nis oblaan!"

With that, a wave of pure force erupted from Alduin's jaw, and Ysmir felt as though he was slammed by a full-power swing of a giant's club. Even though he was clad in the armor of the Dragon Aspect, he was still sent flying backward.

"Dovahkiin! I shall not die! Not here, not by you!" Alduin screamed, deigning to use the Nordic tongue such that Ysmir might understand. "Begone! I banish you, as my ancient enemies had once done to I! Wah Gut Tiid!"

"Dragonborn!" one of the spirits shouted, "Look out!"

However, it was too late. A shout of prismatic colors erupted from Alduin's jaws and slammed into Ysmir. He felt himself being hurtled back with force far greater than that of Alduin's previous shouts. And then Ysmir, the Last Dragonborn, disappeared from Sovngarde.

…

….

…

An earsplitting sound shot through the air, causing Wendy and Gajeel to cover their sensitive ears. All around them the members of Fairy Tail, wounded from their clash with Grimoire Heart, but recovering thanks to Wendy's magic, looked up at the sky with a look of confusion.

"What is that?" Gray said as he whirled around, trying to find the source of the noise that seemed to be coming from every direction.

"It's so damn loud!" Elfman shouted as he pressed his hands against his ears in order to mitigate the severity of the noise.

While Wendy was desperately trying to block out as much noise as she could, she felt her eyes go wide; she knew what this sound was coming from. There was only one other person there besides Wendy who knew what this sound was heralding; her fellow Dragon Slayer, Gajeel Redfox. Of all the guild members there, only the two Dragon Slayers remained quiet as they stared into the sky.

It meant one thing, and one thing only.

"The cry of a dragon..." Wendy said in an incredulous tone, as if unable to believe it herself despite knowing it to be true.

"Eh?" Levy said with an expression of shock.

"A Dragon!?" Lisanna said, also with a surprised look.

From an open path in the forest, a group of their guildmates came running. They consisted of Gildarts, Lucy, Cana, Happy, and the Fire Dragon Slayer, Natsu Dragneel.

"Hey! Is everyone okay?" Natsu said as his group met up with everyone else.

"He must be from back then," Gildarts muttered with a grim, knowing look on his face.

"Look! Up in the sky!" Panther Lily, Gajeel's Exceed partner, cried out as he pointed towards a black shadow that had appeared high above them.

All of the members of Fairy Tail looked up, their expressions turning to one of horror and dread.

"A... A real live dragon?" Wendy trembled in fear as her friends and comrades around her let out similar statements of disbelief.

Though Wendy had known a dragon before, having been raised for much of her short life by one, she could sense that this one was different. Grandeeney had been kind and motherly. This dragon, on the other hand, felt as if he was a black sun; dawning only to bring a swift and terrible death to all who its shadow touched.

Then, Master Makarov uttered a name that even caused the fearless Titania to go speechless.

"Acnologia," he said in an eerie tone. "The Black Dragon of the Apocalypse."

Wendy knew only a little of the dragon named Acnologia. In the books she had once borrowed form Levy, it had said that Acnologia was the dragon that ended the previous era, destroying everything in its path. Though the book failed to go more in depth than that, it had described enough so that Wendy knew of the terrible power this dragon possessed. The only problem was that the book had been about myths and legends.

As she watched the gigantic creature get closer and closer to the island, it became clear to the young Dragon Slayer; Acnologia was not so mythical after all.

"Hey, you!" Natsu shouted at the dragon hovering over the island. "You know where Igneel is, don't you!? And Metalicana and Grandeeney too!"

Instead of answering, the dragon began descending with terrible swiftness, landing on a hill overlooking Fairy Tail's encampment with such force that the very ground beneath him was crumbling. Wendy couldn't even find the proper words to describe the feeling in its fullness. It was large; larger by far than Grandeeney. It was almost entirely black, save for its eyes which glowed a burning, hellish red. More so, it radiated its awesome power, as if issuing a single, silent command: Die.

The black dragon roared, causing waves of pressure to lash outwards. Such was the power of its roar that the trees nearest to it snapped and fell to the ground.

The dragon looked down at them, and it was then that those of Fairy Tail understood.

They were going to die.

Fear was plain in all of them, such that they all froze even as the dragon flew up into the air and dived down at them.

"RUN FOR IT!" Gildarts shouted, managing to regain his composure faster than everyone else.

But, it was too late. The dragon slammed into the ground, causing the earth to collapse in on itself, a large crater forming under the massive weight of the dragon.

"RUN TO THE SHIPS!"" Gildarts roared out the evacuation order. Even though the other guild members were shocked beyond comprehension at the level of destruction this creature was causing, they complied and began sprinting towards the docks.

"Wendy!" Carla, Wendy's Exceed partner, cried from beside her as they began running alongside everyone else. "You can talk to dragons, right? Can't you don something about this?"

"No, I can't!" Wendy said, shaking her head. "Dragons all have high levels of intelligence, so he should be able to understand us, but he doesn't want to!"

Even though this dragon could very well understand everything the humans were saying, it paid them, the mages of Fairy Tail, the same amount of attention and regard that one might give to a fly they were trying to swat out of the air. That, Wendy thought in the back of her mind, was actually a very good comparison of the current circumstance. To that dragon, they were but flies that it was trying to swat.

Glancing over her shoulder, Wendy saw something that made her freeze. Makarov, master of Fairy Tail, had stopped and was facing the dragon. All around her, the other members of Fairy Tail had noticed as well and reacted the same way.

"What are you doing, Master?" Erza cried out, "We need to keep running!"

"All of you," Makarov said, "Keep running, and don't look back."

"No way!" Natsu said in an angry tone, "If you're staying, we're staying too!"

"Listen to me, you damn brats!" Makarov roared, "This is your Master's final order! Now obey it and run! Get out of here!"

Tears began welling up in Wendy's eyes as she understood what the master was saying; what he was trying to do. It was true that Master Makarov was the only person who could possibly slow down the dragon long enough for the rest of them to escape, but in doing so, he would surely die. Even if he wasn't already wounded from the fight with Grimoire Heart, that dragon was simply too strong for even Makarov. But the Master of Fairy Tail, being the person that he is, was more than willing to make that sacrifice.

But surely he understood what this meant to the rest of them? He was, to all of the, a father figure, in spirit though not in blood. And what children could just stand to run away and leave their father behind to die? Impossible. It was completely out of the question.

As Wendy blinked the tears out of her eyes, she noticed something strange. Despite the fact that it should have had more than enough time to do so, the dragon had not been attacking. In fact, now that she was looking at it, it had stopped moving all together and was instead looking upward at the sky.

"Everyone!" Wendy called out. "Look! The dragon stopped!"

"Eh?" Carla said as she looked at the mighty beast as well. "You're right, Wendy. But... why?

Makarov backed away from the dragon and returned to his normal size, trying to conserve as much power as he could in case he needed to grapple with the beast once again.

"It looks like it's... expecting something," Mirajane said as she followed the dragon's line of sight. "From the sky?"

Looking upward, she noticed something strange happening up in the heavens. While the rest of the sky was still blue and clear, save a few clouds, there was a single, large circle that appeared as if it had been inscribed into the sky. It was pitch black like the void, and a faint sound could be heard coming out of it.

Then, something fell out of that circle of infinite blackness. No, rather, it was as if it had been ejected out, and the circle quickly disappeared after doing so. Mirajane squinted to get a better look at it. It looked like a... person?

There was a crashing noise as whatever the circle had spat out landed on the island, kicking up a cloud of dust that made it impossible to see. Thankfully, it quickly dispersed, allowing Mirajane and the rest of Fairy Tail to get their first look at what had come out of that gate in the sky.

The Take-Over mage had been right; it was indeed a person. Judging by their build and size, she guessed that it was probably a man, though it was hard to tell from the armor the person wore. That armor looked as though it was darker than the night itself, and his sword and shield were made of similar materials. More interestingly, however, clad over that dark armor was what appeared to be a forcefield of sorts made of ethereal light. Who this person was, Mirajane couldn't even speculate. What she did know was that this man's presence gave her the same sensation she got from Acnologia.

"Dragon."

Mirajane turned to her pink haired friend. "Natsu? What are you-" she began, but was cut off by the stranger's voice.

"Alduin!" the man said, rage clear in his tone.

The words that came next out of the man's mouth were in a language that Mirajane had never heard before, and she was unable to make sense of it. It seemed, however, that the dragon did understand, because, to Mirajane and the rest of Fairy Tail's shock, the dragon spoke back.

"Dovahkiin!" the dragon said in such a way that if it were a person, Mirajane just knew that it would have had a look of complete and utter hatred on its face. The kind of hatred reserved only for one's sworn enemy, their life's nemesis. That, and there was something else she could sense in the dragon's voice as well: fear. In the same, unknown language as the stranger, the dragon continued speaking for a short time.

Whatever was said between the two must have truly enraged the man, because he spoke with such pure hate and vitriol that Mirajane, the Demon of Fairy Tail, flinched back a step in panic.

With a savage cry, the man dashed forward, sending a horizontal slash toward the dragon's head. To Fairy Tail's collective surprise, the dragon retreated back a few steps in order to avoid the swing. It then lunged its head forward, snapping its jaws, and the man raised his shield and braced against the attack. And brace he did, for though the dragon's attack collided into his shield and managed to forcibly push him back several feet, the man stood fast. He then countered with a stab at the dragon's head, which was now within easy striking range. He managed to score a deep wound, but one that seemed to be more painful than it was serious. This only caused the dragon to become more infuriated as it reeled its head back in pain.

In that narrow window of opportunity, the man shouted three strange words, "Yol Toor Shul!"

Fire erupted from the man's mouth, similar to that of Natsu's own breath attack, though more concentrated and narrow in scope. It hit the dragon, causing the beast to snarl as it let loose a fire breath of its own. After a few moments, the dragon's fire breath pushed back the stranger's until both streams of fire were meeting in the middle of the two combatants. After nearly half a minute of that contest of heat, both fire breaths dispersed.

"Who is that guy?" Erza said in shock. "A Fire Dragon Slayer like Natsu?"

"No," Gajeel was the one to answer. "I don't know who or what he is, but he's no Dragon Slayer."

"But, since he's fighting that dragon, he can't be a bad person, right?" Wendy asked the group.

"Hell yeah!" Natsu said as he threw a fist in the air. "Let's go help that guy! This is our chance to kick that dragon's ass!"

"Agreed," Erza said more calmly. Requiping into her Purgatory armor, a glint could be seen in her eye as she raised her sword. "Fairy Tail! Charge!"

A collective shout of agreement and fighting spirit sprang up from the members of Fairy Tail, as those healthy enough to fight began rushing forward, while only a few remained behind to help those too wounded to fight escape. Makarov looked on as his children charged in to give aid to the mysterious man who seemed to be giving Acnologia a hard time. _If this man hadn't arrived when he did, we'd likely all be dead_ , the old mage thought.

Both dragon and man noticed Fairy Tail's charge. The dragon reared his head back, its chest beginning to expand. The man saw this action, and cried out in his mysterious language towards the mages of Fairy Tail. No one there but the dragon understood what he was saying, but his voice carried an obvious tone of fear and warning. From that, it was clear what he was trying to say. _Look Out!_

Whether it be from the man's warning or just the obvious action of the dragon, the mages all understood what to do, and started to scatter. However, Wendy and Mirajane collided with each other and toppled over, both being weakened from their parts in the earlier battle with Grimoire Heart.

"Wendy! Mira!" members of the guild cried out.

A beam of pure, destructive energy shot out of the dragon's mouth, aimed straight at the two Fairies. Both of their eyes went wide as they watched their own impending doom rapidly approach them. Wendy screamed as she grabbed hold of Mirajane's arm. Mira was simply petrified as memories started to run through her mind. She had just gotten Lisanna back after all that time, and now she was going to die?

"Wuld!" they heard the stranger shout. In an instant, he was in front of them, shield raised. His body positioned at an angle that would protect both women completely.

After what seemed like hours, but was really just a few seconds, the dragon's breath attack stopped. It seemed to have taken all of the stranger's strength in order to block that much power, as his ethereal armor faded and disappeared followed by the man collapsing forward onto the ground, unmoving.

"Dovahkiin," the dragon rumbled, as if it were sneering at the stranger. "Mey..."

With that, the dragon flew high up into the sky, leaving them in a strange peace, like the kind that came after a storm.

"Are you alright?" Wendy said as she and Mira moved closer to the downed stranger. Upon his lack of response, the Sky Dragon Slayer put her hands on the man's back and began healing him. "Please. Please don't die!"

Mirajane knelt next to the man as Wendy desperately tried to heal him. The Take-Over mage started to wonder why this man would risk his life to save them, two people he had never met before.

However, before she could think on it much further, Gajeel suddenly said, "It's not over! The dragon's getting ready for another attack!"

Mirajane's head snapped upward. Her eyes widened in fear as she saw the dragon preparing to unleash another one of its powerful breath attacks.

"Everyone who can use defensive spells, put all your power into it right now!" Erza ordered.

Following up on that order, Lisanna also cried out, "Everyone! Focus all of your magical energy on Freed! The more magic you give him, the stronger his runes are!"

"Children! Join hands with one another!" Makarov bellowed.

Everyone immediately gathered around the fallen stranger, and they formed a circle of joined hands. In doing so, they were able to connect more easily with one another and send their magical power towards Freed, who began casting his defensive rune magic. A part of Wendy knew that this would ultimately be useless, as there was no way that whatever makeshift defensive spell they formed could hold against that dragon's breath. But, another, stronger part of herself wanted to believe. To believe in her friends and comrades, and to believe that they would survive to see another day.

"It won't end with this, you shitty dragon!" Natsu shouted with determination.

"We'll never give up!" Lucy cried out.

A teary eyed Makarov smiled. "We'll all go home together..."

A bright light shone down on them until none of them could see anything but white.

* * *

 **Translations:**

 **Fo Krah Diin (Frost, Cold, Freeze) - Frost Breath Shout**

 **Yol Toor Shul (Fire, Inferno, Sun) - Fire Breath Shout**

 **Wuld (Whirlwind) - Whirlwind Sprint Shout**

 **Mey (Fool)**

 **Well, there's chapter one for you. I hope you enjoyed it (even though almost all of it was the same as what Leo Septem wrote). I'll have the next chapter up within the week.  
**

 **Let me know if the POV was difficult for you to understand or if you found any errors (if you do find a problem, PM me instead of leaving it in the reviews).**

 **If you happened to have missed it in the opening Authors Notes, here's some more shameless advertising for you: I'm writing another Elder Scrolls/Fairy Tail crossover called 'Magicka and Ether Collide'. Check it out, if you have the time and interest.**

 **Once again, thanks for reading and I hope to do well by those of you who were following Leo Septem.**

 **-Mystiirous**


	2. Revelations

**I'm a bit late in getting this out, especially since most of it was already written by Leo Septem. Sorry.**

 **I did a few changes here and there, and added some things to the two chapters to create this chapter. I'll leave the poll up for a bit longer, but it's looking like we have a winner.**

 **Anyway, enjoy the show!**

* * *

 **Forgotten Hero  
**

* * *

 **Revelations**

"Nngh," Mira moaned as she began to open her eyes.

Looking around, she saw that the rest of her guild members were also starting to wake up, though they were scattered around the area. Upon hearing loud, teary shouts of joy, she turned her bleary eyes to look at the source of the noise.

It looked like... Jet and Droy, as well as a few other members of Fairy Tail. And yet, they also looked different. They all looked older than before, as if they had aged years. In Droy's case, he had gotten rather fat, causing the Take-Over mage to wonder how in the world he could have gained so much weight in such a short time. More importantly, why were they here on Tenrou Island?

"You guys!" Jet cried out in a joyful tone. "You guys are all alive!"

Alive? Mira looked down at her hands and clenched them. Yes, she was indeed alive.

But how?

"Is everyone okay?" Mira heard Erza call out. Affirmative responses came back from the rest of Fairy Tail.

"Yeah, we're fine."

"Doin' all right over here."

"Still alive."

"What's going on?" Wendy said, "How are we still alive?"

"Fairy Sphere."

All eyes turned towards the new voice. Floating a few feet above the ground, a short girl in a white dress and with wings coming out of her head, smiled benevolently down on them. She landed on the ground with a soft swish and began speaking.

"My name is Mavis Vermillion," the girl said as the members of Fairy Tail began gathering before her. "The first master of Fairy Tail."

Mira blinked as the words started to sink in. Then, she cried out with a loud "Ehhh!?" Similar outbursts came from the rest of Fairy Tail. _Unbelievable_ , Mira thought with eyes wide open. If this person was telling the truth, if she really was Mavis, who was already dead, then that meant that she was a ghost!

"Back then, when the dragon unleashed his attack," Mavis continued, "I took the power and strength of everyone's bonds and faith and converted all of it into magical power. It was thanks to this power that one of the three great fairy magics, Fairy Sphere, was activated; an absolute defensive spell that protects against any and all evils. However, the spell also sealed away all those within it in a frozen state. Though it may seem to you all as if not even a day has gone by, it has in reality already been seven years."

Mira's eyes went wide. Seven years? They've been asleep on Tenrou Island for seven years? At least that explained why Jet and Droy and the others had changed so much, appearance-wise.

"What? So the First protected us, huh?" Master Makarov said in a tearful voice.

"Not at all," Mavis said, "I am only an ethereal body; a spirit. It was the power of everyone's feelings that allowed this to happen. Faith and bonds; that is what allows miracles to take place." Mavis smiled even wider, happier. "It's become a wonderful guild, Third."

"Thank you, First," Makarov said, tears of joy streaming down his face.

"Now, if I'm not mistaken, there is a stranger here that I think you guys should help," Mavis said, pointing past them. "I would hate for someone who has helped those of my guild to simply die." With that, she vanished from sight, as if blinking out of existence.

"Oh!" Mira cried out.

Turning around, she noticed that the stranger had not yet stirred from his own slumber. As she started to make her way to the strange man, she saw Wendy quietly berating herself as the Sky Dragon Slayer joined her at the man's side. Because she and everyone else had awakened without injury from Acnologia's breath attack, she had assumed that the stranger was fine as well. She had forgotten, however, that just before that last breath attack, he had given his all to protect Wendy and herself, and might have been severely injured because of it. Despite his armor and shield.

"How careless of me," Wendy said as she began casting healing magic on the unconscious man for a second time.

"Is he going to be all right?" Mira asked from beside her.

"Mmm..." Wendy mumbled. Mira watched as the small healer furrowed a brow as she concentrated on sending her healing magic through the man's body, searching out and mending any injury that she could find. "Yes. He has a lot of injuries, but I can heal them. He's mostly just suffering from exhaustion."

"That's good," Erza sighed with relief, coming up to the two woman and the strange man. "Whoever he is, we owe him our lives."

"But really; who is he?" Levy said. "It sounded as if he and that dragon knew each other. He called it Alduin, and the dragon called him Dovahkiin. Have any of you ever heard of them before?"

As the other members of Fairy Tail continued talking, Mira watched Wendy with a worried eye as the young bluenette continued working on the strange man.

"Ergh..." the armored man groaned as he blinked his eyes open. With a bit of effort, he sat up and took off his helmet, revealing his dark brown hair and a foreigner's face. He began rubbing his temple as if he was suffering from a headache. With bleary eyes, he glanced around at the Fairy Tail mages with a look of vague confusion on his face.

"Are you alright?" Mira asked.

The man stared at the beautiful white haired woman for a moment, and then his eyes widened as he seemed to remember something. He shot up to his feet, sword already in hand and whirled around, his eyes scanning the sky almost in desperation.

"Alduin!" he cried out. "Hvor er Alduin!?"

"Sorry, what?" Mira said.

With an impatient look, the man pointed at the sky with his sword, and then at the ground where the dragon had landed, repeating once more, "Alduin! Alduin! Hvor er Alduin!?"

"Can anyone understand what this guy is saying?" Natsu said, scratching his head in confusion.

"I think he's asking about that dragon," Wendy said.

Running a hand through his hair in frustration, the man looked to be becoming increasingly agitated as everyone talked around him, conversing amongst themselves in a language foreign to him as they speculated who this man was and why he was here on Tenrou Island.

"Well, here, let me try something," Levy said as she approached the man and began inscribing magic letters in the air in front of the man. "I think I can probably cast some kind of translation spell so we can at least understand each other."

Upon seeing the glowing letters appear before him, traced out by Levy's fingers, the man's eyes went wide with surprise and he reacted in and instant. His sword was like a blur as it stopped the barest of distance from Levy's neck, a thin scarlet line appearing where it had stopped. Levy's eyes widened as she jumped away from the man, her hand coming up to stem the steady trickle of blood flowing down from her neck.

"Levy!" Gajeel shouted as Wendy hurried to heal Levy's fresh wound. Gajeel turned on the stranger, anger on his face. "Hey, what the hell are you doing!?"

The man snarled out a few, accusatory words, glaring around at the rest of Fairy Tail, who were now tensing at the sudden assault. Just as the tension seemed to reach its peak, however, a burst of light and smoke appeared in front of them all, and a man dressed in a black formal suit, dark sunglasses, and with wild, untamed hair appeared out of nowhere.

"Daedra?" the strange man said in surprise.

"Loki?" Lucy said. "What are you doing here?"

"Sorry, Lucy," the Lion Stellar Spirit said. "Let me just get things cleared up a bit first." He turned to the stranger and then, to everyone's surprise, began speaking in the same language as the man. As he spoke, the tension on the man's face began to disappear, and he lowered and sheathed his sword. Turning back to Levy, Loki said, "All right. You can continue with your spell now."

"Right," Levy nodded as she hesitated for a moment before walking back up to the stranger and began her spell once again.

"Loki? What's going on? How do you know his language?" Lucy said with a surprised and confused expression.

"It's better if I explain after the spell finishes," Loki said with a frown.

Though confused, Lucy nodded in understanding and waited as Levy continued her spell. After a few minutes, the spell was complete. The runic letters that had been accumulating in the air around the man began swirling faster and faster, and then suddenly absorbed themselves into the man's body.

"Can you understand what I'm saying now?" Levy asked with a cautious tone.

The man blinked at Levy. "What a strange magic. I have never seen such a type before," he said with a surprised expression. "In any case, I apologize for drawing my weapon on you earlier. I did not recognize your spell and thought it to be some form of attack."

"Apology accepted," Levy said with a slight smile. Gajeel, on the other hand, maintained a snarl directed at the man who had cut Levy, but refrained from saying anything.

"And you," the man turned to Loki. "You do not look like any Daedra I've seen before."

"Daedra?" Lucy said. "Oh no, Loki isn't a 'Daedra', he's a Celestial Spirit. Right, Loki?"

"...Daedra, eh?" Loki said in a quiet tone. "It's been a long, long time since I've heard that word."

"Loki?" Lucy looked toward her Celestial Spirit with even more confusion written on her face.

The strange man shook his head. "It matters not. I don't have time for these pleasantries. I must find Alduin at once!" he said as he picked up his helmet and began walking away from the group.

Loki was about to stop him when Wendy called out, "Alduin... That big dragon from before?"

"Yes, little one," the man said, glancing back at the young bluenette. "He's escaped me twice now. He will not do so a third time."

"Twice! You've fought him twice!?" Gildarts said in shock, causing most of the Fairy Tail mages to look at him in surprise. "I was almost pretty much dead after the first time I fought him!"

"Hold on a sec!" Natsu cried out. "You mean to say that you've met that dragon two times before? Then, do you know where Igneel and Metalicana and Grandeeney are?"

"Everyone! Please, be quiet for a moment!" Loki said, gaining everyone's attention. "To answer your earlier question, yes, I am a Daedra," Loki continued. "I serve the Daedric Prince you would know as Azura, Lady of Twilight, Queen of the Night Sky, Mistress of Dusk and Dawn. Though now she also goes by the name Stellar Spirit King. You being her champion, she has bidden me to come and explain to you what has happened. My name is Loki, one of her appointed twelve."

"If she's a girl, then why did you call her a prince? And why is she a King now?" Natsu said. Everyone else in Fairy Tail sighed at his sense of priority. Loki's right in front of him talking about a side to the Celestial Spirits that not even Lucy knew about, and he was more interested on gender terminology?

"You don't know of the Daedra? Even though you appear to be close to this one?" the strange man said as he motioned toward Loki, an incredulous look on his face.

Everyone in Fairy Tail shook their heads; not even Master Makarov or their resident bookworm, Levy, seemed to know anything about the term.

"How unbelievable... To think there was a corner of Nirn where the people don't know of the Daedra..."

"Nirn? What the hell is Nirn?" Gray said in an almost annoyed tone.

"Gray! That was rude!" Erza said as she glared at the Ice-Make mage, causing him to squirm and avert his gaze.

"You... You don't know of Nirn?" the man said as his face began to pale. "I couldn't have been-"

"Ysmir!" Loki interrupted the strange man. "You are still on Nirn. But, like I said, it's been a very long time since my kind have been called Daedra, or this world called Nirn." Loki said before anyone else could speak up. The now known Ysmir just stared at Loki with a confused expression.

"How did you know his name?" Mirajane said.

"As I've said, this man was the Spirit King's champion. Though, she hasn't chosen a champion since Ysmir," The Celestial Spirit said, turning thoughtful towards the end.

"Now I want to know too. I've met the Spirit King before, so why do you keep referring to him as if he were a woman?" Lucy said, not really understanding what was going on at all.

"Lady Azura is a Daedric Prince. An entity with power beyond the comprehension of most mortals. While they reside in their planes of Oblivion, by default, they have no gender. When they manifest themselves on our plane of existence, they can take whatever form they desire. Azura has always fancied manifesting as a woman, why has she changed to that of a man?" Ysmir said, directing his ending question to Loki.

"It is quite the long story, so maybe she can tell you herself some other time," Loki said with a smile.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Lucy said, waving her hands around. "What the hell are you two talking about! Daedra? Nirn? Oblivion? What the hell is going on!?"

Quite a few of the others seemed to be sharing the same feeling as the Celestial Spirit Mage.

"Lucy. I'll explain as much as I can later, but I don't think now is the time to go into too much detail," Loki said, earning a tired sigh from his 'master' and a few of the other Fairy Tail mages. Nodding, the Celestial Spirit turned his attention back to the man. "Ysmir. I don't really know how else to say it, so I'll just be blunt. In your fight with Alduin in Sovngarde, he used a shout on you just as you were about to land the killing blow on him. That shout did not just send you back to Tamriel. It also flung you into a plane where time isn't relevant. It brought you to the future, Ysmir."

The man blinked a few times before sighing and rubbing his temples. "How far?"

"Wait, you believe it so easily?" Erza said as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Ysmir just stared at her for a few moments, making the Scarlet Knight feel a bit uncomfortable, before sighing. "With all the things I've seen... Yes. Something like this isn't too hard to believe."

"Ysmir," Loki said, once again taking control of the conversation before his companions could steer it in another direction. "It's been two millennia since your last battle with Alduin."

"What!?" Ysmir shouted.

"Loki," Mirajane said, her eyes wide. "Are you saying that Ysmir is..."

"Yes, Mira. He's a man from a long forgotten era."

"Wait," Ysmir said in a tone of urgency. "Then what about the Greybears? The Blades? The Companions? The College? What about Skyrim and the Empire? Hell, what about the damn Thalmor?"

"They're all gone," Loki said in a calm tone. "After Alduin sent you hurtling through time, there was no one left to stop him. He destroyed almost everything Nirn had to offer, thereby ushering in a new era."

"No..." Ysmir whispered as he collapsed to his knees. "Then I... I failed?"

"Yes," Loki said in a quiet tone, lowering his head. Seeing Ysmir in a near catatonic state, Loki turned to Lucy. "I'm sure you all have many questions to ask, but I'm afraid I can't stay any longer. The Spirit King has only allowed me to speak this much because of Ysmir's arrival. If you want to know more, you'll either have to wait until I have the time, or you'll have to get the answers from Ysmir himself. My lady," he said, bowing to Lucy before disappearing in a flash of light.

With a hesitant hand, Mira reached out towards Ysmir, who had a vacant expression on his face, his eyes cast downward, empty and listless.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

Ysmir didn't respond. He didn't even stir.

It seemed that the news Loki had brought him had hurt him beyond understanding. Mira couldn't blame Ysmir, of course. She wasn't certain about what exactly was going on, but if what Loki said was true, then Ysmir had tried to kill that dragon before, but did not succeed, resulting in everything and everyone he knew and loved being destroyed.

"Uh... So what should we do with him now?" Natsu asked the group in general. He crouched down beside Ysmir and poked him in the side of his face. Ysmir did not even give an indication that he had noticed. Natsu poked him again and grinned. "Heh, this is kinda fun."

"Natsu, cut that out!" Erza ordered, knocking him on the head with an iron fist.

"Ow!"

"Master," Erza said in a tired tone. "We can't just leave him here. What would you like us to do?"

"Hm..." Makarov scratched the back of his head. "Well, for now why don't we just take him back with us? Let's take him back to Fairy Tail!"

…

….

...

Mira looked around at the guild, smiling as she watched the constant, boisterous celebration that Fairy Tail had once been renowned for. Though seven years had passed, and though the building in which their guild now resided in had changed into more of a shack, the return of the core members of Fairy Tail from Tenrou Island had served as the spark that relighted the fiery spirit of the guild. But, besides the change of years and residency, there was one other difference; one that was sitting by himself in the corner of this rundown tavern, staring with blank eyes into a mug of tepid beer with an expression more suited for that of a dead fish than a living human being.

"He's rather depressing, don't you think?" Carla commented from the bar where she, Wendy, and Mira were situated.

"It can't be helped," Mira said, a faint tone of annoyance in her voice. "You can't expect him to be fine after he learned that everything he knew and loved, all of his friends and family, his entire world, was destroyed."

Still, the barmaid frowned; Carla had a point. Ysmir's current behavior could not be allowed to go on for much longer. It had been a little over a week since they had returned to Magnolia, and in that time Ysmir had slept very little, ate even less, and drank enough beer to make Cana proud. For all intents and purposes, he may as well have been a statue, seeing as how he almost never moved from his seat. A living, breathing, and slowly dying statue.

Many Fairy Tail members had already tried speaking with him. Erza had attempted to strike up a polite conversation in order to try to learn more about Ysmir and see what she could do to help the time lost man. Ysmir did not just ignore her. He reacted as if he did not even notice her; that is to say, he did not react at all.

Master Makarov had also attempted to converse with Ysmir. The master, Mira knew, was a good man who would not be able to bear watching such a young man give in to the despair he was feeling. Like with Erza, Ysmir ignored Master Makarov as well.

And then there was Natsu. Of all those who tried to talk with Ysmir, he was by far the most prominent. In the Fire Dragon Slayer's case, he had been insistent on finding out what Ysmir knew about Igneel. Ysmir did not so much as spare Natsu a glance, angering Natsu and forcing Erza to step in to stop the Slayer before he tried to fight with Ysmir. Natsu was just too stubborn, though, even amongst the notably stubborn guild, and he continued to try to speak to Ysmir almost every day. By the fourth day, he was the only one who continued to try to speak with the man. The rest of Fairy Tail had already realized that Ysmir just did not want to speak with any of them, and so they decided to leave him in peace. And though Ysmir had been left to himself by Natsu for one day, it had only been because Natsu left with Lucy to visit Lucy's father. Once they returned, the Fire Dragon Slayer once again approached the man.

Yes, this could not be allowed to go on. Somehow, someway, Mira thought, she needed to snap Ysmir out of his funk. Of that she knew for certain. If not, she had a feeling he would continue to allow himself to wither away like dust until he died, something he was already making steady progress on. Heavy bags had formed underneath his dark green eyes, which were bloodshot and sunken from lack of sleep. His dark brown hair had become matted and dirty and his face had lost its color and was starting to become gaunt from hunger and weakness. In addition, the strange dark armor that he wore seemed to weigh down on his body, further proof that he was becoming too weak to bear the weight of that armor. All together, he gave the impression of a young man who had just aged several tens of years in the matter of a few days. The change was visible, and very worrying.

Mira clenched her soft hands into little fists. Though Ysmir was a stranger, he had saved her life. How could she just stand by and watch as her savior allowed himself to waste away in such a miserable manner? She stood up with quite a bit of resolve. She could not. She absolutely could not allow that to happen.

"Mira?" Wendy said, looking up at the Take-Over mage.

With determined steps, Mira walked over to Ysmir, and she heard the noise around the guild dim down to a more hushed tone as they watched the latest attempt at conversing with the ever silent stranger. Like with the others, Ysmir made no move to show an acknowledgement of Mira's presence. The barmaid sat herself down across from Ysmir at his table.

Mira wondered for a brief moment about what to say now that she was here. She had gotten this far, but she had not made a solid plan of what to do from from this point on. She hesitated for only a moment, though, before electing to just say whatever was on her mind.

"Hi, my name is Mirajane Strauss," she introduced herself.

No response.

"I never thanked you for saving me back on Tenrou Island," she continued, "So I wanted to do that now. Thank you, Ysmir, for saving my life."

Ysmir stirred a bit for the first time, causing the already hushed sound of the guild to lower to an absolute silence as they watched with bated breath. However, the motion was only enough for Ysmir to briefly flick the gaze of his tired eyes at the white haired beauty in front of him, before returning to stare at his drink.

"You know, you really do need to eat and sleep," Mira said with concern. "It's not healthy for you to keep going as you are."

Silence.

"Please, say something," she said in an almost pleading tone. "Are you trying to die? Don't you want to live?"

"No," Ysmir whispered with a hoarse voice.

Mira's eyes widened. At last. At last he said something. From all around the room, her friends and comrades were now watching with keen interest. But, his answer was not one that Mira had wanted to hear.

"Why?" she said, "Why don't you want to live?"

"There's no point anymore," Ysmir said in a whisper. "Now please, leave me alone."

"But-" Mira began to say, when she heard heavy stomping sounds approaching them. Turning towards the source of the noise, she saw Natsu coming over; and he was furious. That was evident from the wisps of smoke that were being emitted by his body, a common trait for the Fire Dragon Slayer whenever he was angry enough, and the expression on his face, which was twisted with rage and anger. "Natsu?" Mira said in surprise.

"Hey, you bastard," Natsu said as he slammed his hand down on the table and glared down at Ysmir. "So what? Because you lost against that dragon, you're just giving up? Are you that much of a coward that you want to die because of just one failure?"

A light of hellish anger flashed in Ysmir's eyes as he stood up and, being taller than Natsu, glared down at the young Dragon Slayer with hateful eyes.

"Watch what you say, you brat," Ysmir snarled. "What the hell do you know about me?"

"I know that you're moping pathetically," Natsu said, not budging an inch. "I know that you're trying to die in the lamest way possible. There's no point in you living? Don't fuck with me. You're just trying to run away because you're scared of that dragon. You're just a coward."

Something in Ysmir snapped, and he swung his fist, catching Natsu square across the face and sending him stumbling backward a few steps. But after his week long period of near starvation, Ysmir just did not have the strength to do more than that. Natsu, having suffered far stronger attacks before, looked almost unfazed by the sudden assault.

"You don't know anything!" Ysmir said with fury. "Everyone was counting on me! My friends! My comrades! Even my enemies and those who have never heard of me! Millions of unborn lives! Entire civilizations, countries and continents! They were all counting on me to kill Alduin to save them, whether they knew it or not! And because of my mistake, that damned dragon got the better of me! Because of my failure, they all died! All of them! An entire world! What the hell do you understand!?"

Natsu stepped up to Ysmir and, for a moment, Mira feared he was about to hit Ysmir back. Given Ysmir's current physical condition, Mira wasn't certain he would be able to handle such an assault, especially from Natsu who had a hard time holding back his strength. In fact, it was more accurate to say that he did not know how to hold back. Mira moved to stop the conflict when she felt a metallic hand placed on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw it was Erza that had grabbed her. The Requip mage shook her head, telling Mira not to interrupt.

Instead of attacking, Natsu spoke in a calm manner very unusual for the hot-headed man.

"If I were in your shoes," Natsu said, "I wouldn't give up. Your world is dead? I'm sorry. I really am. But, don't just sit here trying to kill yourself! I'm sure all those friends you were talking about wouldn't want to see that from you. Instead of sulking, take revenge on that dragon! And if you need another reason besides that, then look around. We're here. We're alive. Even if the world you knew is gone, there's a new one now. I am sorry that you lost your friends and your world. But, if I were you, this time I wouldn't let that dragon destroy it again. Letting that happened would be the true failure."

Ysmir froze, his jaw clenched tight and his hands balled into fists. For a moment, he trembled with anger. Mira fidgeted in nervousness, hoping that a fight wasn't about to break out. Then, Ysmir sighed and relaxed his body, allowing the trembling to stop.

"You're right," Ysmir breathed as he collapsed back into his chair and leaned his head against his hand. "Yeah, you're right." Just then, the strange man's head fell from his hand as his head smacked into the table. At first everyone was concerned. Mira shot up from her seat and leaned over the table to look at his face.

She let out a sigh of relief. "He's just sleeping," she said with a warm smile. _Finally_ , she thought.

* * *

 **That's chapter two for you. A bit shorter than I was hoping for, but I ended up leaving a few things out that I'll be adding in the next chapter.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **-Mystiirious**


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